Curtain support for articles of furniture



y 24, 1951 A. E. FRIDOLPH 2,562,029

CURTAIN SUPPORT FOR ARTICLES OF FURNITURE Filed Dec. 9, 1946 2 sheets-sheet 1 IN V EN TOR. flan/ 776 E. F/DOZ H July 24, 1951 A. E. FRIDOLPH 2,562,029

CURTAIN SUPPORT FOR ARTICLES'OF FURNITURE Filed Dec. 9, 1946 1 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. ANA/E 776 f. F5 04 PH Patented July 24, 1951 v CURTAIN SUPPORT FOR ARTICLES or Y I FURNITURE.

An ette.- E. Fridolph, New York, NQY.

Application December 9, 1946,Serial No. 715,083

This invention relates to improvements in. furnitureand'particularly to improved means for attaching decorative hangings, such as, draperies,

curtains; skirts "and the like to furniture. 'Ihis application is a continuation-in-part of my'copending application Serial #448, .O5,' filed June 25; 1942, nowPatent No. 2,4l6,'608'.

It is an object ofthexpr'esent invention to provide a. concealed traverse member, as an integral part of .an article of furniture, for slidablysupporting decorative hangings, panels and the like, thereby avoiding theuse-oi auxiliary. curtain or drapery rods, or hangers.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved article of furniture such as a table or counter having a top with an overhanging edge and. which'is-so arranged that a sliding curtain may be 'suspendedinvisibly beneath such edge. The invention provides an improved curtain suspension whichmay be used on of an edge of a table top provided with oneform "of the present invention; I

' Figure 2 is a similar view illustrating a modified form 'of construction;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a vanity'table incorporating the present invention;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional view of a table top edge incorporating another form of the presentinvention;

Figure 5 is a similar view illustrating a further modified form;

Figure 6 is a perspective view partly broken awayillustrating the invention applied to a table top cabinet;

' F'Figure 7 is aperspective view of a bed incor- :porating the present invention wherein the: side panelsare so formed as to provide a traverse'slot forreceiving decorative hangings and theback of the head of the bed is alsoprovlded witha traverse slot for receiving a decorative panel; and

Figure 8 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing a couch or piece of similar furniture incorporating the present invention.

Referring now to the drawing and particularly to Figure 1, there is illustrated a portion of a table top ID, the outer edge thereof being indicated at 2 Claims. (or. sir-2) l2. Rabbeted to its lower surface is a depending flange orvalance M which is preferably arranged flush with the outer edge l2. Formed in theilowor horizontal surfaceof the top l0 behind the valance boa-rd I4 is a T'-shapedslot or channel Ni. The-shape of the slot or channel I6 may be-varied so'long as it is 'generally'similar' toa key-hole in that it is provided with a narrow mouth or slitl8 and an enlarged recess 21! beyond: the mouth. Slidable in the slot iii are a, plurality of slider elements 22 having enlarged heads 24 freely movable in the recess 2H and flexible tape portions zfi. extending: through the slit t8. These slider memhere may have their heads 24 covered with fabric to facilitate ease of sliding the curtain in the groove. A curtain 28 is. suspended from the slid-- em 22 and may have slider members individually sewed thereto. .Alternativelythe sliders. mayfirst be sewed ontoa tape at uniform. intervals, which tape is subsequently sewed to the curtain '28. The general appearance-of a vanity table thus constructed is seenin Figure 3 from which it is apparent "that the upper hem of the curtain- 'is 'concealedrbehind the valance boar M.

At onepoint in the groove, slot or channel 16 there is provided an'aperture 30' (Figure 6) which is a lateral enlargement of slit- [8 of awidth approximatelythe widthof the recess 20. This aperture permits the sliders to be inserted in the groove one at atimeby bending the "flexible tape 25 to introduce the heads 24 angularly intothe recess 28'. The aperture 30, however, is "shorter than the sliderszt to permit them-to passacross it after they have once been inserted in theslot Hi so that the curtain is thus freely slidable back "and forth. along the full length of the slot l6. Other constructionsfof the edge maybe adopted, for example, as illustrated in Figure 2;.the vari- 'ance board 38 may be integral withthe tabletop t0 which has a groove It formed'in itslowerface. Alternativelya's shownin Figure 4., the table top 42 may have a thicker depending flange orval- :ance board 44' secured to its lower face; In this a case, the curtain, hanging slot or. channel I 6. is

formed on the inner face of the valance board. A similar construction is'also illustrated lnFig'ure :5 wherein-'thetable-top 4B and valance board 48 arerabbeted and joined as indicated at 59'.

The slot l6 may readily be formed by a routing operation at the time the furniture is constructed. Inasmuch as the slot I6 is small, unobtrusive and located in a concealed position, the curtain hanging means is not apparent when the table or other article of furniture is used Without a curtain.

The action of the fabric covered heads 24 sliding in a groove or channel in the wood or similar material is extremely smooth and the flexibility of the tapes 26 materially assists in this action. Thus the curtain may be slid back and forth along the groove easily without the possibility of jamming or sticking.

The provision of the aperture 30 enables the curtain to be readily applied or removed and inasmuch as the slider members '22 are washable, they need not be detached from the curtain when it requires laundering. parent that the present inventionprovides an improved means or skirt beneath the edge of a table without the addition of any separate, exposed parts.

Where the edge of the table or the edge .of an ornamental side board 60 of a bed is exposed, as shown in Fig. 7, in a, different way. Thf slider members 22 are sewed to a continuous length of tape 6 l, the tape being sewed to the skirt or curtain 28' so that the top edge of the curtain is about even with or slightly above the upper ends of the sliders. When the sliders are inserted into the slot 16 formed in the ornamental surface, the slot is concealed by the top edge of the curtain or skirt. The skirt 28 can be attached to the side board 60' by inserting the sliders successively into the aperture 30' in the slot until all of them are engaged in the slot. 1

In applying an ornamental covering to the headboard 62 of a bed, the headboard of the bed is provided with a T-shaped slot l6 near the top of its rear surface as shown in Fig. 7. 5

The slot l6" has an aperture 30" therein near one end to receive the slider members on the top edge of the ornamental panel 63.

The ornamental panel 63 can be attached to the headboard 62 in the same way that the skirt 28' is attached to the side board 60.

If it is desired to remove the skirt or the ornamental panel from the bed for washing or cleaning, it is only necessary to grasp the skirt or panel and tilt the end slider slightly to slide the same through the aperture. The succeeding slider members can be tilted and withdrawn through the aperture and the skirt or panel thereby removed easily. The. slider members being ofcloth and small in size can be washed or cleaned with the hanging. In Fig. 8 is shown the invention as applied to a lounge or piece of porch furniture 64. In this lounge, a slot 65 is formed near the top of the rear surface of the back member 66 of the lounge.

A similar slot 61 is formed in the front surface of the back member .66 near its lower edge and preferably behind the seat of the lounge. The ornamental covering 68 for the back of the lounge has slider members at its top and bottom edges for insertion into the slots 65 and 61. The apertureslnot shown) for inserting the sliders into the slots 65 and 61 may be at one end ofthe slots or at any convenient location along the slots.

i From the preceding description of typical forms of the invention, it will be apparent that I have provided a most convenient and inconspicuous for hanging a sliding curtainthe slot may be concealed It is thus ap'- traverse and supporting means whereby skirts, draperies, curtains and the like can be easily attached to and detached from various articles of furniture and that these articles present unmarred and attractive exposed surface portions even in the absence of such curtain, drapes or skirts because the supporting tracks are concealed within the furniture.

It will be understood that the invention is applicable to other'typesof furniture than those disclosed and described herein and that the di- 'mensions of the sliders of the tracks therefore may be modified in accordance with the requirements. Therefore, the forms of the invention disclosed herein should be considered as illustrative and not as limiting the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. An article of furniture such as a table, counter or the like, comprising a member having a normally visible outer surface extending to a peripheral edge portion and an inner normally concealed surface within said peripheral edge portion, and a channel of small transverse dimensions formed integrally in the concealed surface of said member, said channel being composed of a longitudinal recess Within said member and a relatively-narrow slit opening, from said recess through and along said inner concealed surface'to receive slidably a thin body portion of a curtain-supporting slider element having an elongated enlarged head movable freely in said recess, so that the furniture article itself contains integral and normally concealed means in said member for slidably draping "its understructures. 1

2. An article of furniture as described in claim 1, said slit having a lateral enlargement at a convenient point forming a passageway for movement of such slider element into and from said channel.

ANNETTE REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 568,091 Lounsbury Sept. 22, 1896 641,115 Isbills Jan. 9,1900 699,971 Poschmann May '13, 1902 841,044 Perry Jan. 8, 1907 934,475 Taussig Sept. 21,1909

1,023,069 Cole Apr. 9, 1912 1,093,119 Donavan 1 Apr. 14, 1914 1,175,136 Dickey et al Mar. 14, 1916 1,206,421. Dickey et al Nov. 28, 1916 1,239,919 Kirsch Sept. 11, 1917 1,463,598 Seaman July 31, 1923 1,649,215. Brown Nov. 15, 1927 2,104,261 Landau Jan. 4, 1938 2,163,359 Van Derveer June 20, 1939 2,253,427 Hachtel Aug. 19,1941 2,412,608 Fridolph Dec. 17, 1946 2,491,755 Muench 1- Dec. 20, 1949 2,491,756 Muench Dec. 20, 1949 

